forfeiture, and even in minor instances leads to some imprisonment. The Home Office, I am happy to say, has further ensured the identification of convicts, whether discharged on licence or unconditionally, by a distribution of photographic portraits to chiefs of police; so that a machinery is now coming into action by which licencees will be held in check during their final term of probation, and all convicts, whether licence-holders or not, will, it is hoped, be identified with facility, whereby, on a subsequent trial, the proof of a prior conviction will be relieved of the many difficulties which now surround it.

Thus although the Home Office had set itself in determined opposition to the declared opinion of both Houses of Parliament, namely, that the monthly reports were essential to the due supervision of licences, and had only yielded at the last moment, yet I gladly admit that, judging by its late regulations, it has determined to carry the Act into full execution; and further to adopt in good faith several important suggestions of the commissioners, by no means in accordance with the views of the department, as collected from its former practice. By these regulations that negative conduct which was the sole end and object of the former treatment is no longer to remain the criterion determining a prisoner's claim to a discharge on licence. In the emphatic language of the commissioners, accepted and repeated in the regulations, the prisoner is henceforth to "earn" his discharge by strenuous and active exertions. He is to work his way out of prison by his industry-general good conduct, however, remaining an indispensable condition of release. Thus the controversy of years arrives at its termination, and the treatment of convicts is brought into agreement with the intention of the Legislature as expressed in 1853.

Again, some portion of what Captain Maconochie called his mark system is being introduced. Its object is to estimate and register the industry and behaviour of the prisoner, and to facilitate the employment of fines for relapse into misconduct. Let me express a hope that the many ingenious expedients of this lamented and, I grieve to add, unrewarded philanthropist, will be further drawn upon by his countrymen, and that his services becoming better known, his widow, who sacrificed, and cheerfully sacrificed, her fortune for the prosecution of her husband's experiments, will not be suffered much longer to remain in a state but little removed from want.

Such, then, is the aspect of this great branch of the treatment of criminals. Our Association cannot congratulate itself as having accomplished all it has attempted, but surely we have much to encourage us in future endeavours. We have zealously assisted in bringing over the largest part of the Irish system into our own island. Yet I cannot but lament that we have been obliged to leave one portion behind to which Sir Walter Crofton justly attaches unlimited value; I refer to what he denominates the intermediate stage, a height in the progress of the candidate for a ticket-of-leave, which when he has scaled, places him between confinement and liberty. At this point

physical restraints are altogether withdrawn, and the prisoner (if so he still must be called), is only retained under control by his sense of duty and the consciousness that he will be thrust back into a lower stage should he abuse his allotted measure of relaxation in discipline. But I cannot believe that from an arch wanting comparatively so little to perfect it the stray stone will very long be withheld.

I pass over some other improvements, just remarking that changes have been made in the diet of the convicts, and errors connected with the allotment of diet to particular classes of prisoners have been rectified. I believe, too, another rectification is contemplated, namely, a reduction in the numbers congregated in any one gaol.

All now depends upon the administration of the measures brought, or promptly to be brought, into operation. It cannot be denied that the Home Department is placed in a condition of no common responsibility. The gentlemen who compose it have to conduct a system reformed, not with their aid or concurrence, but in spite of their strenuous opposition and powerful influence; and no labour, I freely admit, can be more arduous or more irksome than that which they must undergo, until by the force of truth, their opinions are brought into harmony with their duties. Speaking, however, as I do, of intelligent and honourable men, that is a consummation which I not only devoutly wish, but confidently expect.

On Discharged Prisoners, and the Means of Assisting them to Obtain an Honest Living. By JAMES MARSHALL.

WHEN a criminal has undergone the sentence of the law and leaves a prison to return again to common life, it is of great importance both to himself and to society that whatever good resolutions he may have formed, whether proceeding from conscience or from prudence, in favour of a life of honest industry, should not be thwarted by the adverse circumstances of his situation. He comes out of prison with a damaged character,-generally without money or proper clothing; his home, if he had one, broken up, and the tools of his trade gone. He is thus placed in circumstances of peculiar temptation, and ready to become the prey of those trained criminals, who, especially in London, lie in wait for him as he issues from prison, and hold out every lure to engage him again in crime. If, escaping these toils, the ex-prisoner tries to get honest employment, the pressure of his immediate wants, and, above all, the want of character, often stand fatally in the way of his success. Need we then wonder, that a man in a situation so forlorn and helpless should at length succumb and relapse into crime, as the only means of getting a living.

To avert this deplorable result, various societies have been formed for the purpose of aiding well-disposed ex-prisoners in their desire of obtaining honest work. But it is only the well-disposed that can be thus helped. The man is now his own master; he is no longer the

subject of compulsory discipline. The utmost that can be done for him is to remove obstacles to his getting work; but the battle must be fought by himself; and unless he has the will and the capacity to work, all efforts on his behalf must be fruitless.

One mode of helping ex-prisoners, has been the formation of institutions for the reception of such as are willing to subject themselves to a system of strict discipline, for such period as might be deemed necessary for fitting them to obtain work. As they come to such institutions voluntarily, and as they may depart at any time during the period of probation, their going through the discipline satisfactorily gives reasonable assurance that they are animated by such a sincere desire of honest work, and have such a capacity for steady industry, as may justify the managers in recommending them for employment. Of this sort was the Refuge for Male Criminals opened some years ago in Smith Street, Westminster; but which was, unfortunately, given up for want of funds. Of the same nature also, are those institutions in Middlesex and elsewhere, formed for the reception of female ex-prisoners, which have been attended with signal success in training domestic servants and placing many in situations which they now fill with honesty and credit.

But institutions involving reformatory training and the maintenance of prisoners for lengthened periods are necessarily expensive, while it has been found that many prisoners coming from county or borough gaols, who have not as yet gone beyond the first stage in crime, but have previously lived by honest industry, do not stand in need of such reformatory discipline, and may be effectually helped to obtain work at a trifling expenditure of money. It is found that

a supply, according to the exigency of the case, of lodging and food for a few days, of necessary clothing or tools of trade, or a small outfit for the sea, is all that is required to get many an ex-prisoner into honest employment and give him a fresh start in a course of well doing.

Various associations, called " Discharged Prisoners' Aid Societies," have been formed for the purpose of aiding prisoners on this plan. The earliest of these societies was devoted exclusively to convicts coming from Government prisons; men whose crimes were of a deep dye, and most of whom had been habitual criminals; but who, having been subjected to long periods of prison discipline, in part reformatory, it was thought might be effectually aided in getting work, without any additional probationary discipline; more especially as by voluntarily giving up their prison earnings, proof was afforded of the sincerity of their desire to do well, and at the same time a fund was supplied by means of which the society could more effectually place them in circumstances favourable to well doing. An account of the operations of this society has been already read before the Association, in two papers by Mr. Ranken, the honorary secretary, printed in the Transactions.

* See Transactions of 1858, p. 368; 1860, p. 475.

The success of this effort on behalf of Government prisoners led to the formation of societies to help prisoners coming from county and borough gaols.

The first effort of this kind was a discharged prisoners' aid society formed in connection with the Birmingham Gaol. The operations of this society show the smallness of the expenditure necessary for giving effectual help to prisoners.

During the two years, 1860 and 1861, 407 persons were aided in obtaining work at a total expenditure of £558 17s. 4 d., being an average of £1 7s. 54d. for each person; but if the cost of agency and management were deducted, then the average outlay on each person in actual aid was only 14s. 5d. That a careful scrutiny was exercised in the selection of the cases, is evinced by the fact that the whole number aided did not exceed ten per cent. of the number of prisoners discharged during the two years.

The aid afforded by the Birmingham Society was supplied wholly by voluntary contributions, but its operations were so beneficial that it was considered advisable that the funds to be applied for the benefit of ex-prisoners by that and other similar societies should be supplied out of the county and borough rates; and accordingly, by the Act 25 & 26 Vict. c. 40, the visiting justices of county and borough prisons were empowered to grant sums not exceeding £2 in each case, to be applied for the benefit of the prisoners through the instrumentality of discharged prisoners' aid societies, who should be approved and certified as therein mentioned. Among other societies which have been certified under the Act of Parliament, is one formed for the county of Middlesex under the auspices of the Refuge and Reformatory Union. The operation has been as yet confined to the county prison of Coldbath Fields, where the average number of prisoners exceeds 1,800. The society has been in action now over six months. A short detail of the proceedings may be useful as a guide to similar societies which may hereafter be formed in other counties and boroughs.

The first step was to select an agent well acquainted with criminals of all gradations, and at the same time qualified to mediate with employers on behalf of the prisoners. A satisfactory selection having been made, the prison authorities appointed a Scripturereader, among whose duties it is, under the superintendence of the governor and chaplain, to converse with the prisoners about to be discharged, and ascertain who among them are likely to be proper objects of the society's aid. Three things are necessary to be ascertained, as far as possible, in order to a grant of assistance. 1st, That the man is sincerely desirous of honest work; 2nd, That he is capable of work; and 3rd, That he needs help.

When the officers of the prison consider that a prisoner's statements give hope that these points can be established, the society's agent proceeds to investigate the case out of doors. He makes inquiries as to the former occupations, habits, and character of the prisoner; whether he has any friends willing to assist him; and

what prospect there is of getting him put to work. The matter is then laid before the visiting justices, at their weekly meeting preceding the prisoner's discharge. If the application is entertained, a sum not exceeding £2 5s. is directed to be applied for the benefit of the prisoner: according to the prison rules, each prisoner is entitled, on his discharge, to receive 2s. 6d. for every three months of his imprisonment during which he has not been reported for breach of prison discipline. This is commonly called "star money," from his wearing on the sleeve of his jacket a star for each 2s. 6d. due to him. In order to test their sincerity, prisoners are required, as a condition of obtaining assistance, to give up their star money to the society's agent, to be applied for their benefit along with the money granted by the visiting justices. It sometimes happens that this condition is refused, and the prisoner prefers to depart with his star money only. When a grant is made, the prisoner leaves the prison under the care of the society's agent, who endeavours to find employment for him, or encourages him to apply for it himself; in the meantime the agent assists him with food and lodging on a very moderate scale; the regular allowance being sixpence a day for food, and fourpence a night for lodging. As those cases only have been taken up, where there was a probability of work being immediately obtained, these expenses have never gone beyond a few days; the money spent on the prisoners for other purposes has been for proper clothing, for necessary tools of trade, and for outfit to sea. During the six months from February to August last, 160 prisoners have been aided to obtain work, at a cost of not more, on an average, than £1 for each prisoner: this includes the outfit of thirty-nine prisoners who were sent to sea at an expense of from 30s. to £2 each; the others were disposed of generally with a much smaller outlay, most of them returning to the occupation they had followed before they went to prison. The whole of the money thus expended under the grants of the visiting justices, was laid out exclusively on the prisoners, nothing being applied from that source to expenses of management, which have been defrayed entirely from funds derived from voluntary subscriptions. It has been doubted whether the Act of Parliament gives the visiting justices the power of granting any money applicable to the expenses of management, but provided that £2, the amount limited by the Act for each prisoner is not exceeded, it is conceived that a small proportion of the amount granted might be directed to be applied to expenses of management, as being expenditure for the benefit of the prisoner within the meaning of the Act.

The expense of management in such a society need not in any case be great, in that for Middlesex it has been unusually small. It has not been necessary to hire premises, inasmuch as the Reformatory and Refuge Union have given their board-room for the meetings of the committee. The duties of secretary have been voluntarily undertaken by Mr. Murray Browne, the honorary secretary, to whose exertions the society is deeply indebted; and the printing has been